A Smart, Dumb Decision
by Gavin Tyson
Summary: 10 years is a long time, and in that time Harry Potter; vanquisher of Voldemort has done much, especially when it comes to magical creatures. Yet his mind keeps reminding him of one thing he's failed at; having a family and he feels like he was too late to try with a certain Granger, her being married and all. Yet when a dumb decision is made, who's left to pick up the pieces?
1. Chapter 1

**A Smart, Dumb Decision**

 **Chapter 1: Smartest Witch makes Dumb Decision**

 _A/N: I have no idea what made me write this._

His alarm blared annoyingly, effectively rebooting his mind to the world around him. Lazily, an arm swiped in the general direction of where the noise was coming from, a resounding smack was heard as his palm struck something off the nearby desk. This was accompanied by a loud smash, which was then followed by an annoyed sigh.

"Balls…" he mumbled but did not move, just continued to lay there, seemingly unbothered by the destroyed alarm clock and more bothered by the blearing noise. He was seemingly happy to continue to lay there, not contributing to the world today. That is until the noise of flapping feathers broke into his hearing, and a blurry shape of a feathery bird landed onto his chest. The man huffed as he waved the blurry image away, which it did, not before dropping a small object onto his face. He scrambled at the sudden impact, not from pain but from surprise. He realised that the object was his glasses.

"Great…" he mumbled… "breakfast it is!"

Placing his glasses onto his face, his vision cleared up dramatically, images becoming defined and easily identifiable, his bedroom was rather bare, only containing the absolute necessities, in fact, the only eyebrow-raising thing in his room would be the fiery orange large bird perched on his nightstand, cocking its beak at him in indifference. The man laughed at the bird's annoyance, "okay, okay, I know you're hungry Blaze, just give me a second", the bird known as Blaze seemingly understood what the man had said, and quickly flew out of the room, through the open window, the window that the man _knew_ wasn't open when he went to sleep last night.

 _Gotta get a better lock on that bloody thing… Also, have to find a way to stop Blaze from following me home._

No-one told him that Phonexixs were masters of unlocking, but that could all be dealt with later, right now, he glanced out of his window at the gray dreary skies above.

It was time for work.

 _ **Later**_

He hauled a large red bucket around, passing by small enclosures filled with unique, little creatures, as he passed by each, he would click his fingers and watch as a generous amount of feed flew from the bucket straight into the enclosures. He smiled as his ears picked up the sound of happily scurrying creatures, excited about their meals. He did this for a few more minutes before the bucket was emptied. Clicking his fingers once again and the bucket disappeared. His next feedee would practically be offended if he attempted to give the same feed to it. Its taste was far more specific. The man strolled down a cobblestone path heading for a large forest, one that he knew spanned for miles upon miles, and of course, he'd know that he owned the entire thing. Coming up to a small shack, he unlocked the gate and went inside to grab the needed food.

 _ **Later**_

A few minutes later, he was casually walking through the forest, a large sack hanging over his shoulder.

" _The witch strolled through the woods, looking for something to curse…"_ He sang quietly to himself as the large forest above him shaded him completely from the suns gaze. His eyes noticed a three-pronged track in the mud, he followed it, pulling out a small device from his back pocket, pressing it, a small clicking noise resonated from it. And he continued to click as he continued.

" _She found a small dog, playing in the mud…"_ A cautious caw let him know he was on the right track, but he wasn't worried about the caw, this process took place every day.

" _She cursed the little thing, how sad… the little thing whined and moaned"_ His foot caught a stray twig and almost fell over, but his quick reflexes put a stop to that, and he couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

" _It cried and cried, the sound set her right and she took the pain away…"_ A small rumble in his jacket pocket had him pulling out his phone, he smiled at the screen.

 _You up yet? – Received._

" _The witch realised her mistake and took the little thing away…"_ He managed to send a quick reply with one hand.

 _I am, MOOOOOM :/ - Sent._

" _She took it home and they played the night away!"_ he finished the little ditty, smiling at the happy ending of the song just like he always did. And another rumble from his phone kept the smile up.

 _HARRY JAMES POTTER, DON'T YOU SASS ME – Received._

He laughed at that, how could he not? Knowing that the message wasn't serious, and a devious smirk crossed his face, as his finger crossed across the phone screen.

 _Can't talk MOOOOM, busy feeding BB :p – Sent._

He was so going to get it for that. But first, his head shot up as heavy flapping alerted him, he had found what he was looking for.

"Buckbeak…" He couldn't hide the smile as his hippogriffical friend landed in front of him, kicking at the ground. Harry stared directly into the magical creature's eyes and the cross between a horse and bird stared back, this lasted for a few moments before the intimidating creature trotted over, and rubbed its head onto Harry's, to which he responded by giving the creature a one-armed hug around its neck, he patted it for a few moments before pulling back. "You hungry bud?" He raised the sack to show his feathered friend and laughed when Buckbeak stomped its hoofed feet happily, trotting around Harry's form in anticipation. "Alright, here we go!" He opened the sack and grabbed something from it, he pulled out a dead rodent and threw it at his friend, Buckbeak gobbling it up in seconds. Harry then dumped the sack into the ground and emptied it, figuring he'd treat Buckbeak to a very large breakfast today.

He stepped back and let Buckbeak dig in, squealing happily at its breakfast, however, his attention turned to his phone once again.

 _I am going to smack you – Received._

He laughed out loud.

How very like Hermione Weasley.

 _ **LATER**_

It had been a few hours since breakfast, and currently, he was nestled in his office with a warm cup of hot chocolate in his hand. Legs resting on his wooden desk.

"Been a quiet morning today, what do you figure Blaze?" He questioned the phoenix perched on its nearby stand, it didn't answer obviously.

"Yeah, I thought so too" he answered himself, obviously enjoying the company of the fiery bird. He finished off his cup before standing up and walking towards a plaque on the wall. The mere sight of it brought an infectious smile on his face.

 _ **Potter's Care for Magical Creatures Foundation (P.C.M.C.F)  
Certificate for an outstanding care rating for endangered magical creatures In Britain.**_

And underneath the framed certificate was a framed piece of paper that read;

 _I'm so proud of you Harry.  
Love. Hagrid_

 _Love ya too, you big oaf, without you, this place wouldn't have happened._

Hagrid had been instrumental to this place, guiding Harry and helping him with so many things to do with magical creatures, both safe and dangerous. He still remembered the time, the pair had tried to relocate a Hidebehind that had found its way to Ireland last year, the pair still had the scars to show for that, and Harry had his fair share of nightmares to boot from it. The thing had come very close to killing him… _TWICE_ before they managed to incapacitate it long enough to move it to the foundation's high-risk site.

He was broken from his musings as a knock struck his door. "Come in!" He voiced, returning to his seat, opening the door, a small figure nervously walked into his office, an elf to be exact, a gray female one.

"Ah, Dinky! How're you today?" Dinky was one of many elves who worked for the PCMCF, during the years after the battle of Hogwarts, Harry and Hermione have been campaigning for Elfish rights and, his foundation was one of the first to ever officially employ elves, giving them weekly pay, Dinky was one of the first to be employed and was trusted by Harry to feed some of the more risky creatures.

The small elf shies away momentarily before mustering up the courage to respond "Dinky is happy today Master" She catches herself "Mr. Potter, Dinky has just finished assisting Miss. Longbottom in feeding the Thestrals".

"That's great Dinky! How is Luna today?"

"Miss Luna had to take a moment for the baby, but Dinky was able to feed well enough!" Dinky anxiously rubbed her hands, still very unused to the kind and fair treatment the Foundation gave working elves. Harry rubbed his chin at this, Luna was almost four months pregnant with her and Neville's third child and had worked for the foundation for almost three years out of the 6 it had been established for and was considered third in charge of the foundation with Hagrid second-in-command and Harry the head of the foundation. He smirked, Luna had easily agreed to work for the foundation on the condition that if she managed to find some of her more 'mystical' magical creatures, that the foundation took care of them as well. And so far? No Humple-back snorkles or such.

Harry wrote something onto a piece of parchment, signed and sealed it into an envelope.

"Would you mind passing this to Luna please Dinky? It's her maternity leave letter, I'd tell her in person, but you know what she's like" he smirked, the last time he had to give Luna maternity leave, she spent the next few weeks sneaking back into the Foundation to feed the creatures.

Dinky took the letter hesitantly before leaving.

Harry leaned back into his chair and whistled; "third kid eh? Time really does fly by", it had been a full ten years since he killed Voldemort, and it seemed like everyone but him had a family at this point.

Luna and Nevile.

Draco and Pansy.

George and Fleur.

Seamus and Cho.

Ginny and Quidditch.

…

…

…

Ron and Hermione.

He sighed and rubbed his eyes, and with that thought, his day was ruined. It always happened when he found a quiet moment in the day. His mind went back to her, always to her. He closed his eyes to keep himself in check.

God-damnit.

Why, why had he been so dumb when he was young!? He was too busy stressing over Voldemort to notice Hermione until it was too bloody late! And Ginny ended up loving Quidditch more than him, so that relationship ended swiftly. So he kept busy, helping magical creatures, it was a full-time thing at first, barely a wink of sleep a night, but now? Six years into the Foundation has left him with a lot of free time, and by a lot, besides his morning feeding times, and a weekly visit to the High-risk site, he was free to himself, barring any emergencies. Which meant one thing.

He needed a hobby.

His love for Quidditch died with his love for Ginny and that was 9 years ago, he was done with any kind of dueling or auror work, he had enough of that crap dealing with Voldemort. He couldn't cook to save his life, reading was about as enjoyable as managing the funds for the foundation, and he arranged for the goblins at Gringotts to line the funds directly from his quite frankly; stupidly rich vaults. And he meant; Vaults. Once he became of age, he found out he had enough money to fill over four and a half vaults.

It seemed to combine the Potter and Black riches meant that Harry became the single richest wizard in Europe.

That reminded him, he had another payment to make for the relocation of another magical creature today, so he returned to his desk and began writing a letter to the right people, it would keep him occupied for a while at least. That was until he heard his phone rumble. Without thinking he reached for it and both smiled and blanched at the person who messaged him. It was the exact woman he had tried to get from his over-active mind.

 _How's work today? – Received._

He looked at the text, he wanted to reply, but all to would lead to was his future mental agonising over the fact that he… that he… He stalled, not wanting to continue that thought process, he practically throws the phone across his desk into a nearby chair, he couldn't, he just couldn't think like that. So with that, he returned to the letter, he suddenly found some more work to do.

 _Sorry, 'Mione._

 _ **LATER**_

It was later now, almost 11 pm, he had managed to keep himself occupied, from taking an extra feeding shift and helping Luna arrange her maternity pay, as well as sending out some applications to the ministry for a few part-time workers to make up for the lack of Luna for the next long while. That's when he realised he couldn't put it off anymore, he glanced at his phone, still laying on the chair In his office, it had vibrated a few times on and off through the hours. And honestly, he felt bad for ignoring it for so long. Hesitantly he grabbed his phone and looked at the screen.

And his eyes widened in panic.

42 messages not seen.

 _What the?_

He cautiously checked them, and he suddenly wished he hadn't.

 _Harry, you there? – Received._

 _Harry? Are you ignoring me? – Received._

 _Harry James Potter, I swear if you are ignoring me… - Received._

He skims over the next few messages, most of them including joking threats for ignoring her.

The next message he reads was from a few hours ago, and it sent shivers down his spine.

 _Harry, can we talk, please? – Received._

 _Harry please! I really want to talk! – Received._

 _Please… - Received._

He was panicking, what was this? He was about to call when he noticed the next text he got from her.

 _Harry… I messed up, I messed up really bad, It's Ron. We've broken up and I need to talk to someone, I really really messed up.- Received._

The remaining texts resembled the last one, none of them made sense to Harry, they just mentioned about messing up really bad with Ron apparently. What could she had messed up with? This was Hermione Weasley, the brightest witch he knew, she could never mess up. A knock broke his thoughts and he turned to the door to see Dinky come in again, holding the daily prophet in her anxious hands. "Dinky? I'm a little busy at the moment, could you please come back later?" And he went back to his phone, but Dinky didn't leave, instead, she tentatively placed the paper on Harry's desk.

"Dinky thinks Mr. Potter should read the front page… please?"

 _The front page… what?_

He stops, for a moment and takes a deep breath, one thing at a time, he heads to the desk, still holding his phone, he was going to message Hermione straight away after this, whatever this was that Dinky wanted him to see. That's when what he saw stole his breath in shock. The front page of the daily prophet featured a magical picture of a very familiar woman to Harry, kissing a very familiar blond haired male, and the headline read;

 **SMARTEST WITCH MAKES DUMB DECISION; CHEATS ON HUSBAND WITH MARRIED MAN.**

Harry stared at the paper for a moment before reading some more of the report, that was until he noticed the writers name; _Rita Skeeter_ , he immediately clicked his fingers and the paper burst into flames. Ignoring Dinky's questions, he grabs his jacket and leaves his office, quickly scrolling through his contacts before pausing on Hermione's. He pushes the call button and holds it up to his ear as he finds himself suddenly at his house in the local countryside. Having needed to apparated to a quiet and secluded location, before he did something without thinking. He waits with bated breath until he hears the click of someone picking up the phone.

"Hello," he says quietly, unsure on how to start otherwise at the moment.

"… H-Harry?" He stalls at the voice on the other end, it was hers, but at the same time, it wasn't. The voice sounded… broken, to say the least.

"Yeah, yeah, it's me, Hermione… what's happen…"

"I've messed up, I've really, really messed up and I don't know… I and Ron have broken up and…. And I've… I don't know what to do!" She was rambling, and Harry could easily tell the fact that she was crying on the other end of the phone, "Hermione, calm down…"

"I didn't mean to, I was… I was drinking…. I was- I was, I…" She was obviously breaking down on the other end and Harry felt his heart snap at the absolute desperation that filled her voice. "Hermione, just… just calm down, take a deep breath for me… okay?" The silence on the line filled Harry with worry until her voice came over, a tad calmer than before.

"Harry… I… I really need to talk to someone… anyone right now, I can't go home… not now."

His mind whirled at this, he immediately wanted to invite her over, but then his mind remembered the paper; she had been caught cheating apparently, but she just said that she was drinking and that she messed up, so she couldn't have done it maliciously, especially when the man she had kissed was Draco Malfoy of all people, there had to be an explanation about all this. But, did he want to get involved? He had his foundation, his work, his creatures, his reputation, having Hermione over could risk that last one, if someone found out he invited the supposed cheater over, it could hurt him. That's when he remembered the story's writer; Rita, and he recalled all the times Hermione had been there for him, and for a brief second he had actually thought of sending her away and he was disgusted with himself. Hermione was his best friend and she needed someone right now.

"You can come over to my place, you know, the new one I got in the countryside? I'll open up the flooway, the code is; Potter's Rest, okay?"

He hears a small sniff over the line followed by; "thanks Harry…" it was so quiet and broken that he almost missed it. And then the line went dead as she presumably hung up. He looked at his fireplace and clicked his fingers, allowing the floo to accept visitors. He would be here for his best friend.

And anyone who had anything to say about it could face his bloody wrath. That reminded him, he had very strongly worded letter to write to the Daily Prophet about a certain Skeeter.

 _A/N: I have no idea what made me write this, but I enjoyed writing it and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Let me know what you thought, please?_


	2. I will be there for you

**I will be there for you, just like you've been there for me!**

He hated waiting, he hated it with a fierce passion, it wasn't that he was bereft of patience, in fact, he found that he had boatloads of it, having to live underneath the stairs at the Dursley's with no form of entertainment for most of his younger years meant he _had_ to learn patience. It was simply that he didn't _like_ it, he was a man of action, had been since he had beaten Voldemort those ten years ago. So, when he found himself pacing his living room floor, anxiously waiting for Hermione Weasley to arrive, he quickly realised that his patience was wearing incredibly thin. He had called her a couple of hours ago at this point, and the tea he had made had gone cold long ago. He glanced outside a window, the sun had set hours ago and now only the all-encompassing dark greeted his vision of the outside world. And for a brief moment, he was thankful that Hermione wasn't walking to his house, not in this darkness, one of the many benefits of magic.

However, one of the things this amount of waiting had granted him was time to truly think, and when he actually thought about this situation that his best friend found herself in, he could only come up with the idea that he simply didn't have enough of the pieces to form a full picture. All he knew was that apparently, Hermione through some manner or another had ended up kissing Draco Malfoy, now, if anything more than a kiss happened he had no clue, but from the small talk he had with the curly haired woman, she had been drinking. Which in itself drew red flags in Harry's mind, Hermione was _not_ a drinker, in fact, Harry wasn't sure if she had ever drank in her life! But he knew that people did change as they got older, and as much as he would like to deny, he had not been in touch with his best friend as much as he would have liked over the years. Besides that first year of campaigning for Elfish rights with the witch, he'd seen her in person perhaps a total of 10 to 20 times.

He scoffed, what a 'best friend' he was. His hands ran through his hair in aggravation, the waiting was killing him damnit!

He paused in his pacing, the waiting was killing _him!?_ What bloody right did he have to feel bad!? Nothing bad had happened to him, but to his best friend, his thoughts went to how her family would have taken the news;

Ron; he would have flown off the handle, not letting Hermione explain her side of the story, he would've seen the paper and exploded on her. His ginger friend may have matured over the years, but he was still notoriously easy to aggravate, and finding out Hermione had kissed another man, and that man being Draco of all people? The wizard would have seen red. And apparently, he had if Hermione saying they've split meant anything. But that wouldn't be all of it.

The Weasley family; they would side with Ron easily, with all of the 'evidence' pointing to Hermione's unfaithfulness would have Molly sending Howler after Howler, Arthur wouldn't accuse Hermione much, but he wouldn't discourage his wife, being the doormat that he was to the Weasley matriarch. Charlie; he honestly wasn't sure about, Percy? Even Hermione had admitted the man was a prick and would take any opportunity to jab at the woman. George would probably wait and see all the facts before doing anything _too_ aggressive, he liked Hermione, but Ron was his brother and all the 'facts' were painting her within a bad light. Ginny? Harry didn't know nor did he care what she thought, she'd be too busy with Quidditch or something. And it didn't even end there!

The Weasley's; being a pureblood family had different rules applying to them when it came to marrying, there were contracts upon contracts, sealed with magical oaths and such, this all meant that if Ron decided to divorce Hermione on grounds of being unfaithful, it could and would probably end very poorly for the witch.

It truly seemed that the smartest witch had indeed made a pretty dumb decision. But he would not judge just yet. But that just came back to the original question;

Where the bloody hell was she!?

He was done waiting now, he headed for his jacket when suddenly, his fireplace lit up and out popped a disheveled, disgruntled and distraught Hermione Weasley.

"Harry… I, what!" Whatever the witch was about to say was interrupted by Harry wrapping his arms around her shaking form, trapping her tightly in an all-encompassing hug. Followed by the brave man whisperings kind nothings in her ear.

"Shh… shhh… its okay Mione, its okay, just… just relax for a moment okay?" He rubbed his hands up and down her back calmingly, and it seemed it was all too much for the emotional woman as Harry soon found himself with her arms wrapped desperately around his waist, clinging to him like her last lifeline, the tears exploding forwards now, streaming down her beautiful face, she didn't say anything, just cried, truly cried. And Harry just let her, continuing to be her lifeline, not asking any questions, just sending her reassurances through being there. Questions could be asked later, for now, he held the woman he secretly harbored feelings for close to his chest.

 _ **LATER**_

He wasn's sure how long he held her there, just wrapped around her form in his living room, but eventually, the tears faded away, the shaking subsided to shivering and the chocked sobs regressed to sad whimpering. He patted her back a few more comforting times before gently pulling away. And for the first time, Harry Potter actually _saw_ Hermione Weasley, and his heart shattered at the sight. She was broken, plain and simple, her face was streaked with dried tears, her form was shivering, her arms wrapped around herself as if to hold herself up. Her usually curly hair was matted and ruffled, clumps dangling here and there with no organisation to it. And her clothes were simply a mess, where usually the witch would not be caught dead dressed 'poorly', her shirt collar was loose, the cardigan over it had holes in its sleeves, and the jeans she was wearing had muddy stains all over them. But what truly struck Harry was the small suitcase that lay next to her. And the sight of it snapped something inside of him.

"He kicked you out?" He spoke without realising, and immediately felt like a complete tosser for the way Hermione reacted, she visibly flinched as if physically struck and opened her mouth to answer before another choked sob escaped her body, obviously recalling what happened, but she managed to eek out a small nod. And that's when Harry realised what this feeling was.

Fury.

His best friend had been kicked out and had only been given enough time for one suitcase worth of stuff? And not even a magical suitcase at that!?

No.

Not on his bloody watch.

He managed to calm himself somewhat as he turned back to Hermione; "Mione, we need to go to your home and get the rest of your stuff…" This garnered the reaction he expected, the witch instantly went rigid; "no. no, it's ok-okay Harry… I-I've got everything I nee." He interrupted her yet again, grasping her arms gently, staring directly into her eyes, "Hermione, okay I need you to listen to me okay?" His words were firm but gentle, and he felt weird being the one comforting Hermione this time when throughout their many years of friendship, Hermione had always been the one consoling him during the tough times, even when they went hunting Horcruxes, and Ron had stormed off, she had stuck with him through thick and thin.

And now, it was his turn to help her.

"We need to get the rest of your stuff okay? I've got some cases that are charmed okay? So what we're going to do is go back to yours and get your stuff" Hermione shook her head, unwilling to go back and Hary had to pull her into yet another hug; "Its okay Mione, I'm coming with you, I'm going to be with every step of the way, okay? Nothing bad will happen." He kissed the top of her bushy head and felt relieved when she relaxed a little more. And he was thankful that she was at least cooling down because he was just about ready to stomp some heads.

After everything they had been through these years, Ron had just _THROWN HER OUT?_ That git had better hoped he wasn't there when they went to get Hermione's stuff.

"Why?" Every time she spoke, Harry inwardly flinched at the anguish in her voice, it was almost like it filled her entire soul, "why bother with me, Harry… I… I could hurt your foundation, your name… reputation…"

"Hermione Jane Granger!" He shouted, fed up with her self-depreciation, she froze at his raised voice, Harry rarely if ever shouted. But he needed to, he needed to let her know why he would do this. His eyes lower sympathetically and his fingers grasped tighter onto her forearms, "Mione, if there was ever only one thing in this magical life that I could count, one thing that has stood by me when I've been an idiot, when it's been too damn dangerous, if there has been one thing I could rely on in this life" being taller than Hermione by almost half ahead, he lowered his face to align with hers, he could see the intrigued expression she wore at his little speech and he had to inwardly chuckle, trust Hermione to be curious even in the worst of times.

"That one thing has been you, Hermione…" And the tears came flooding back yet again, but he wasn't finished just yet.

"So I don't care what some bloody paper has to say, or what some git might think, You are my _best friend_ , and I care about you, and I _will_ be here for _you_ , just like you've been there for _me!"_

He should've expected the bone-crushing hug he got from the witch. One he reciprocated gladly.

"Now… let's go get your things…"

 _ **Later**_

Using the Floo has always left Harry feeling sick afterward, and this time was no different, however, his anger at the whole situation superceeded his discomfort. So when they appeared in Ron's and Hermione's living room, he thought he was ready for anything, what he wasn't ready for was the entirety of the Weasley family filling the living room, Ron sat in the middle of a couch with his mother and father on either side of him, comforting him.

 _Balls…_

Everyone was silent for a while, most likely unable to fully comprehend what was happening, however, Harry wasn't just gaping at the massive family, instead, he was staring at the smallest Weasley in Ron's lap, a little girl with curly ginger hair, the eyes of her mother and freckles of her father.

"Mummy!?"

And that's when all hell broke loose.

"How dare you come back here!"

"Harry!?"

"How could you!?"

The child was drowned out with all of the shouting and Harry could practically feel Hermione shrink into herself, and instinctively, Harry found himself in front of his best friend, practically staring down all of the Weasley Family, not uttering a single word. And His fierce gaze quickly silenced any outcry, he now knew that he'd have to get Hermione out of here quickly before she broke down. She was one of the bravest people he knew, but even she had her breaking points.

"We're here because Hermione is going to gather the rest of her things, as Ronald had so _kindly_ kicked her out with only _one_ case full of clothes", the venom in his voice when he said kindly surprised him, and the startled gasp from everyone in the room told him that it surprised them as well. He turned his head to the woman he cared for and spoke softly.

"Mione, go grab your stuff, I've given you two charmed cases, it should be enough to get your essentials, don't worry, ill still be here." He urged her on quietly and felt a wave of relief when she moved around him and into a nearby hallway, presumably to her room. And he waited a few more seconds before he turned back to the Weasley's, Ron, in particular, looking as red as a tomato in rage. And the only thought running through Harry's head was;

 _Just give me an excuse, Ron, just give me an excuse._

Thankfully, before anything past watershed could be said, Arthur Weasley spoke; "Catherine, would you like to go talk to your mother?" The small child, still utterly confused, nodded and ran off to where her mother was, and Harry had to take a moment to be amazed at the sight of the eight-year-old daughter, she looked just like her mother it shocked him, he hadn't seen the girl for a few years. Once she had left the room, the damn broke once again. Ron stormed into his face, brows furrowed in rage, his fore-finger straight into Harry's vision.

"What the hell do you think you're doin' here Harry!? And what the hell is Hermione with you for!?" And for this brief moment, Harry remembered a younger Ron, a more abrasive Ron, who shouted first and thought never, this Ron was that Ron once again. And Harry responded In kind.

"Get your finger out of my face Ronald. Right now…"

The room grew eerily silent, never have seen Harry so unflinchingly serious, Ron even pulled his finger back unconsciously at the unusual tone his friend had used.

"I'm here with Hermione because from what she told me, you kicked her out, so she's going to be staying at mine for the foreseeable future. We're here so that she can actually take what's hers and then we'll be out of your hair." He was succinct and calm, a far cry from what people knew as the brash and courageous young man. He only hoped that this was the end of the discussion, he would hate to say something he'd probably later regret. However, it seemed that the fates were not so kind to him this night.

Ron chuckled mockingly as he stepped back and flailed his arms as he mocked; "'staying at mine' you say? Huh! First, she goes and shags Malfoy and now she's shagging my best friend as well eh!?"

You could have heard a pin drop.

"Excuse me?" Harry's voice was void of emotion, as he stared directly at Ron's face.

"Whu…"

Harry stepped forward, uncaring of the warnings sent his way from Ron's family, he stepped straight into Ron's face and allowed his eyes to pierce right through his ginger 'friend'.

"We've been friends for a very long time Ronald, a very, very long time, in fact, I'd say you were my first ever friend and I hope you feel somewhat similar." He paused, as he let Ron fully understand what he was saying, "so, as a good friend, I'm going to let that little comment slide just this once okay?" Ron's mouth opened and closed like a fish, unsure of what to say. However, Harry wasn't quite finished yet; he drew closer and lowered his voice so that only Ron would be able to hear; "but if you ever say something like that about Hermione ever again, no force on this Earth could save you from me" He finished by stepping back, an obviously fake smile plastered onto his face, clapping Ron on his shoulder as if he hadn't just threatened the ginger. And before anyone could say anything else, Hermione and her daughter returned to the living room, two floating cases trailing along as the witch held her weeping daughter. It seemed to Harry that Hermione had explained what was happening to Catherine.

 _Oh, Hermione… just what have you done…_

Harry knew he'd have to sit down and finally get the whole story from his friend later. Hermione tentatively kissed her daughter on her head and whispered something Harry couldn't make out, before gently passing the bawling child over to Arthur. But the Weasley patriarch had something to say before she left with Harry.

"Hermione, I know it's not a great time, but unfortunately, due to wizarding laws, contracts and the fact you breached said magical marriage contract, you will receive some very important documents in the coming days about what will need to happen. I'm sorry that this is all happening so quickly but…" Harry noticed Hermione slowly become less and less capable of holding back the dam of emotions she had bottled up and cut the man off. "Have them mailed to my address Arthur, and we can talk about this later, but I'm sure it's best if I and Hermione get going for now…" The man in question read the room so to speak and nodded, patting the woman on her back gently, she returned to Harry's side and instinctively placed herself behind Harry, to avoid Ron's furious gaze. And before any harsh words could be uttered, Harry's voice broke through.

"Potter's Rest!"

And they flooed away.

 _ **LATER**_

The first thing Harry did when he got back with Hermione took her luggage and place it into one of the spare rooms his house had, telling Hermione to make herself at home for the moment. He needed a moment to think. He needed to apologise to Ron later… he _knew_ that, but when he had insinuated that Hermione was just… he just saw red, that was all he could compartmentalise what he had said to himself. He wandered back into the living room and found Hermione huddled up in the corner of his couch, trying to be as small as possible.

He gently placed himself on the other end of the couch and waited.

He didn't have to wait long before she spoke.

"Mailed to my address'" she muttered.

"Huh?"

"That's what you said to Arthur, I won't be receiving those document for a few days, so that means that you are…" she didn't finish her train of thought, but Harry could already tell what he had meant, she certainly was the smartest witch. "Harry, I can't let you deal with all the trouble I'll bring, all I need is to stay the night and I'll find a place to live in the morning, I'm sure my mum and dad would let me stay for a few days…" She began to develop reason upon reason why she couldn't stay at Harry's and all Harry did be stare, stare until she eventually stopped.

"You finished now?" he questioned jokingly and Hermione visibly bristled, Harry carried on; "So… you can stay as long as you need, your room will be across from mine." He saw the witch about to say its unnecessary but he continued "I'll be at work at around 6 in the morning for breakfast, but I should be back around 9 am, and then I'd like it if we can just… talk you know?" He had put off actually asking about what happened for long enough and finally wanted to get it all out of the open, but for now, he figured they could both do with a good sleep. Hermione simply nodded, a small, unsure smile gracing her features. He smiled in kind and stood up.

"Welp, I'm going to get to sleep, give me a shout if you need anything, and just to let you know, if Blaze comes knocking, just ignore him, I'm still trying to keep that bugger out" and he left, fully aware that Hermione had no clue who or what Blaze was.

He went into his large bedroom, a double bed, cupboard in the corner, but still as stark and 'empty' as it was this morning.

 _Lonely._

That was the best word to describe it. But he didn't have time to worry about his own issues, not when there was a bright witch worrying about her entire livelihood in the same house. So for now, he'd push his problems and feelings to the side, because he was needed as a friend right now.

And Harry would always be there for his best friend, no matter how much he wished he was more to her.

 _A/N: another chapter, dunno why I keep writing this, I just like it I suppose, I hope you people enjoyed it as well I guess? Thanks._


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